The classical electromagnetic theory is governed by Maxwell's equations that describe the interaction of the electromagnetic radiation with materials through the electrical properties such as the conductivity, the permittivity, and the permeability of the materials. The electrical properties of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), however, are governed by the quantum theory.
The use of CNTs to fabricate an antenna has been reported. Most of these studies were focused on understanding the physics of the current flows in the nanotubes, and evaluating the impedance and the field distribution around the CNTs. There are many ways to explain the physics behind the radiation that comes out from a CNT antenna and the effective boundary conditions with respect to the aspect ratio. In the form of two-sided impedance boundary conditions for the linear electrodynamics of single and multi wall CNTs, the impedance results from the dynamic conductivity of the CNTs, which is obtained for different CNT zigzag, armchair, and chiral in different approaches. The phase velocities and the slow-wave coefficients of surface waves in the CNTs were explained for a wide frequency range, from the microwave to the ultraviolet regimes. Attenuation and retardation in metallic and semiconductor CNTs were considered in all the mentioned approaches.
The electronic wave motion in the CNTs is at a plasmatic velocity that is much less then the velocity of light in the free space by a factor of (0.01-0.02), which makes the wave length of the electromagnetic radiation looks shorter then the free space wave length with the same frequency. Because the CNTs are in the nano-scale length and diameter, it is very difficult to operate them as a traditional antenna in the microwave range. There are attempts to make the length of a CNT as long as possible, but the longest CNT available is still around few hundreds micrometers, which still does not solve the problem.
Therefore, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the art to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.